Three Trinity researchers receive funding from HRCI-HRB scheme
Posted on: 16 September 2026
Mark Cunningham, Martin Barr and Michelle Spirtos received Health Research Board funding in collaboration with Epilepsy Ireland, Breakthrough Cancer Research and Muscular Dystrophy Ireland.
Three Trinity researchers have secured funding for innovative health research projects under the latest round of the HRCI-HRB Joint Funding Scheme.
The awards form part of a €3.1 million national joint investment co-funded by Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI) and the Health Research Board (HRB) to support research shaped directly by the priorities, lived experiences, and needs of patients, families, and communities.
By placing patient charities and patient advocates at the centre of research design and funding decisions, the scheme ensures that scientific innovation addresses the real-world healthcare challenges that matter most to patients.
The health researchers have secured funding for projects in brain tumour-related epilepsy, lung cancer precision medicine, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy adulthood transition. All three Principal Investigators are based within the School of Medicine.
Professor Mark Cunningham from the Discipline of Physiology, School of Medicine has received funding for a project entitled 'MEG Assisted Planning for Intraoperative Targeting (MAP-IT). Epilepsy Ireland is the co-funded charity.
Professor Cunningham said: "Our research team at Trinity College Dublin, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and Beaumont Hospital is deeply grateful for this HRCI-HRB award in partnership with Epilepsy Ireland. Brain tumours are frequently complicated by severe, drug-resistant epilepsy, and removing the tumour alone often fails to eliminate seizures because the seizure-generating brain tissue extends beyond visible tumour boundaries.
“By putting patient priorities at the heart of our research design through our patient advisory group chaired by patient advocate Elizabeth Comerford, we have ensured this project directly targets the urgent need to improve patient quality of life and surgical outcomes. Utilising Trinity’s new wearable OPM-MEG facility alongside intraoperative recordings will allow us to non-invasively pinpoint seizure zones and guide surgical planning, showing how active charity and patient collaboration transforms clinical neurotechnology into meaningful patient benefit."
Dr Martin Barr, School of Medicine, has been funded for a project entitled Unravelling the prognostic potential and therapeutic targeting of ferroptosis biomarkers in lung adenocarcinoma. The co-funding partner is Breakthrough Cancer Research.
Dr Barr said: "The Thoracic Oncology Research Group at the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI) is profoundly grateful for this funding support from the HRB, HRCI, and our charity and patient partners. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality in Ireland, and drug resistance continues to present a significant clinical challenge in the treatment of this cancer type. This 3-year study will bridge this gap by validating the clinical relevance and translational potential of ferroptosis biomarkers and exploring therapeutic strategies using ferroptosis-inducing novel agents in pre-clinical development.
“This integrative and interdisciplinary approach with patient, academic and industry partners will use drug resistant lung cancer cell models, human lung tumours and zebrafish models. We look forward to working with patient advocates, including Mr Seamus Cotter of the Irish Lung Cancer Community (ILCC) and members of the Trinity St James's Cancer Institute (TSJCI) Patient Representative Group who, by working together will ensure our investigation of ferroptosis cell death and novel targeted drugs remains directly aligned with patient priorities and delivers actionable, precision-medicine solutions for treatment-resistant lung cancer.”
Dr Michelle Spirtos, Discipline of Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine in collaboration with Muscular Dystrophy Ireland (MDI) has received funding for a project entitled Supporting Transition to Adulthood Resources for young people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (STAR DMD).
Dr Spirtos said: "We are thrilled to receive this award in partnership with Muscular Dystrophy Ireland (MDI). Young people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) are living longer, but transition services guiding adolescents into adult life have not kept pace. STAR DMD directly responds to a research priority theme identified in Muscular Dystrophy Ireland's strategic plan. Our team includes young people with DMD and parents as paid members of the research team, clinician and advocacy professionals and international experts with lived experience and research expertise.
“We will co-create and test programmes and resources to support the transition to adulthood for young people with DMD and to support parents in parenting during this critical life course transition. The active involvement of MDI and all key stakeholders guarantees that our research outputs will have a sustainable impact on building independence, self-advocacy, social confidence and successful transitions for young people."
Read more about the projects on the School of Medicine website.